The Guardian of the Elements
by littlekawaiifirefox
Summary: Sequel to The More Original Sequel sequel to So Cliche . PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE READ ITS PREQUELS! Hiei is in despair over losing Sadie. What will happen when the Guardian supposedly responsible for it finally reveals herself?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

She'd returned. He could smell it.

The scent of the life and strength of the Guardian of the Elements, which had long been stagnant in the air, was fresh again.

Inky black eyes swept over a dormant encampment. Pale lips lifted over sharp teeth in a maniacal grin.

He nudged his sleeping second in command with his foot, "Wake up. We're back in business."

His companion grinned maliciously, "Perfect. I'll wake the others and we'll move out immediately."

"Good." He laughed darkly.

He lived for the hunt, and soon, he would have the hunt of his life.


	2. Chapter 1: Lost

**Chapter 1: Lost**

Hiei woke to the rising sun. though it warmed his body, it could not warm his heart.

Sadie had been the fire in his heart, but since she was gone, he felt nothing but ice. A never ending cold that would not cease.

Hiei sighed as he slowly opened his eyes. He'd reverted back to how he'd been before Sadie had arrived.

He stood on the branch of the tree he slept in outside her window and stretched.

Making sure his sword was secured in place, Hiei went to what had once been Sadie's window and entered her room.

Her scent permeated his nostrils immediately, although it was starting to become smothered by his own.

Closing the window quietly behind him, he began his morning ritual of three long months.

He went to the bedside and touched her pillow, an image of Sadie's sleeping form appearing in the forefront of his mind.

Hiei quickly withdrew his hand and the image disappeared.

Next, he opened her closet; her scent was stronger here, but only just so.

He ran his hand over her clothes, careful not to touch them directly. There was a tingling in his palm and he could feel her skin against his.

Again, he quickly withdrew. Again, the sensation disappeared.

Outside, it began to storm.

Hiei clutched the gem that hung from his neck beside Yukina's and stumbled back from the now closed closet.

He fell to his knees as the pain clawed at his chest, through the ice and through the chambers of his heart.

It wasn't just his heart that was cold. Her bedroom, too, was devoid of warmth in her absence.

He was left gasping for air from despair. Finally, the rain pattering on the window calmed him.

Hiei quickly sat up and went to leave through the window. However, a figure on the ground caught his eye as it darted from tree to tree.

A closer look told him that it was the ferry woman as she tried to stay dry. He turned to the clock.

Six in the morning.

Hiei rolled his eyes.

Disappearing from the window, he reappeared at the front door and opened it. The ferry woman had been just about to knock.

"Oh, Hiei!" she looked surprised, "How are you?"

He glared at her; her chipperness was uncalled for this early in the morning.

Her grin slowly slid from her face, "Oh, uh, of course."

Hiei got the impression that she had only just figured out exactly how he was every morning. He thought that she really was rather dim.

"Are you going to come inside or are you going to stay put out there and get soaked?" he asked as he started up the stairs to retrieve Kurama.

The door clicked as she closed it behind her, "Sadie erally softened you up, didn't she?" The ferry woman's voice was soft and slightly hesitant.

Hiei froze. _What?_ He slowly turned to her, "Why would you _ever_ assume such a thing?"

She flinched, "W-well, you j-just seem to _care_ more. About others, that is."

he glared at her, "You're wrong. I could care _less._ I just wasn't in the mood to listen to Yusuke's whining that you woke him up so damn early."

Without another word, he left the disappointed ferry woman dripping in the foyer.

When he reached Kurama's bedroom, he paused before knocking and lifted a hand to the mark on his neck.

Botan had struck a chord. It hit Hiei hard just how much he'd stopped caring about anything.

The only thing that mattered no was the next time he would feel one of Sadie's emotions.

His mating mark was the only way he knew she wasn't dead. It would only disappear if she died and that threat had been there before she left.

The threat of her spirit energy tearing her to shreds from the inside out.

Hiei thought back to the last time he'd felt anything from her. It was three days ago and she'd been excited about something.

He dropped his hand with a silent sigh. He felt pathetic knowing that this was what kept him living each and every day.

He gently rapped on the door, "Kurama, the ferry woman is here."

Kurama opened his door, fully dressed, "Yes, I sensed her arrival. You _could_ call her by her name, you know."

Hiei shrugged, not feeling too compelled.

Kurama shook his head with a defeated sigh and went down the stairs. Hiei followed closely behind.

Once in the living room, they were met by the yawning and grumbling of, not only Yusuke and Kuwabara, but of Touya and Jin who'd decided to stick around until Sadie returned.

Above the raucous, Botan slapped her palm with her fist, "Okay, boys, pay attention! I know it's early, but we've just received word from the Guardian of the Elements."

No one made a sound as tension filled the air. Everyone was thinking the same thing: Could the Guardian bring Sadie back? 

"And?" Kurama asked almost breathlessly.

Botan continued, "She's requested an audience with the six of you."

"Six?" asked Yusuke.

She nodded, "Yes, six. Touya and Jin are to be included. She made this very clear."

"When does she want to meet us?"

"Two days."

"So soon?" asked Touya.

"Of course," Botan gave a slight smile, "The Guardian has a lot of business to attend. For her, the sooner the better. In any case, you'll have to prepare yourselves for her. The spiritual pressure around her is quite daunting. It quite literally takes your breath away."

Hiei lifted an eyebrow, "Are you saying we can't handle ourselves, woman? We've been around opponents with impressive spiritual energy, you know."

Botan gave a nervous laugh, "It's not quite like that, Hiei. I'm not sure how to explain it. Anyway, I'll be back in two days to take you to Koenma's. Bye!" With that she was on her way.

"Too damn chipper," grumbled Yusuke. The others chuckled.

They began discussing how the Guardian may look like and what she might be like.

Some descriptions were gruesome while others were more flattering. Some perhaps _too_ flattering.

Hiei didn't care and he soon became bored.

With nothing else to do, he made his way to the training grounds.

He didn't make it. He rarely did anymore, stopping in Sadie's garden where they had taken the final step in the mating ritual.

Hiei fell to his hands and knees, doubled over in pain. He couldn't breathe. He briefly wondered if anyone knew this happened to him. Then he realized he didn't care. Just one more thing to add to the list of 'Who cares?'.

Needles pricked the back of his eyes, but he wouldn't cry. No, he wouldn't allow himself that comfort. It would only be an insult to her.

With a soft grunt, Hiei passed out on his side from the lack of oxygen.

_In a dream..._

She was there. If I were only to reach out my hand, I could touch her.

However, no matter how far I stretched, I couldn't reach her.

I called out her name.

"Sadie!"

She fixed her eyes on me, her eyebrows drawn together.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

I felt my heart plummet into my stomach. This time, my hands took hold of her shoulders.

"Don't you recognize me?" I asked desperately, shaking her slightly.

She squinted her eyes as though she were trying to place me in her memory. Her eyes saddened.

"I'm sorry."

I watched in despair as she turned and walked away.

"Sadie! Wait!" I called and ran after her, but no matter how hard I ran, she only got farther and farther away.

"Sadie!" No matter how many times I yelled her name, she wouldn't turn around. Eventually, she faded away and all I could see was the darkness around me.

The light of my life – gone.

I felt colder than before and, no matter what I did, I couldn't warm myself.

The air around me felt suddenly strange. I could sense a presence although I saw no one.

"Hiei." A woman's voice i'd never heard before called my name, "Hiei, let your heart catch afire. Your mate is returning to you."

I wasn't sure why, but I trusted the voice and my heart was filled with warmth.

There was a sigh of relief from beside him.

"I was worried, you know."

Hiei's eyes slowly cracked open and saw Kurama leaning over him from the coffee table. No one else was around.

Hiei sat up too quickly, making his head spin. He shook it off and looked around. They were in the living room.

"To be honest, it rather frightened me when I found you passed out in the garden." Kurama handed him a cup of hot tea, "What happened?"

Hiei accepted the cup and said nothing, frowning into the steaming liquid.

"Hiei you need to tell me what happened so that I can help yo-"

"I can't be helped." Hiei snapped.

"I see." Kurama said after a while, "I see."

"Do you?" Hiei whispered, but then shook his head, "Never mind. How long was I out?"

"i found you around noon. Yesterday. Botan will be here sometime in the morning to summon us." Kurama looked Hiei over, "Will you be okay?"

Hiei looked outside. It was well after sunset. He remained silent.

Strange. Kurama had always been the one person he could talk to.

Of course, that had been before Sadie came along and read him like an open book.

_**Kurama's P.O.V.**_

I hadn't lied. I was afraid for Hiei.

I knew that every morning, Hiei went in Sadie's room. And every morning I would hear him gasping for air. Gasping for life.

We all knew it happened.

Sadie had become his soul, and, when she'd left, she'd left behind an empty shell.

There was no light in his eyes. No purpose to his movements.

I studied Hiei with intent, watching as he took a sip of the tea.

I wished I could have kept Sadie from leaving. I wondered sometimes if I could have kept her to myself that I could have prevented her departure.

I wished I could bring her back myself.

None of that mattered, though. There was nothing any of us could do and there was no use in wishing.

We could only hope the Guardian could, or even would, be able to help.

I started at the sound of Hiei's cup on the table.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry. I was deep in thought." I rubbed the back of my neck.

Hiei threw back the blanket from his legs and stood from the couch, "I'll be back tomorrow."

I nodded and stare blankly at the couch until I heard the soft click of the front door.

Immediately, my head dropped into my waiting hands.

"What happened with you guys?"

I whipped around. I hadn't even heard Yusuke enter the room.

"Whoa," he took a step back when his eyes met mine, "Let me correct that. What happened to _you?_"

I scrubbed my face, "Do I really look that bad?"

Yusuke nodded, "Haunted. Hollow."

Hollow. There was the word. He hit the nail on the head. Why hadn't _I _figured that one out already?

"Hiei's worse." Yusuke looked away from me, "He's worse than he was before, well, before _her._"

_Her._ I almost laughed. No one could even say her name anymore.

I felt dread clutch at my gut. Was this the beginning signs of forgetting her entirely?

No. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let that happen.

I couldn't let... couldn't let -

"Dude, you don't look too good," Yusuke broke me out of my destructive thoughts, "Maybe you should go get some rest."

I stood slowly, "Yeah. Maybe I should..." I trailed off.

The next morning I woke to the sound of Hiei coming through Sadie's window.

I rolled out of bed, got dressed, and headed for the kitchen.

Today, I wasn't going to listen to Hiei's silent cries for life. For her.

Eating an apple for breakfast, I watched the coffee dripping into the pot and allowed my mind to empty itself of everything.

Botan would be arriving soon to introduce us to the Guardian.

From here on out I would not allow myself to fall into depression.

If there was no help to be had, then I would simply have to move on.

It wouldn't be easy, but I would do it. The first step would be to move to another house.

If I had to listen to Hiei every morning, it would be too easy to fall back.

As I thought about each step I would take, the others were drawn in one after the other by the scent of the fresh brewed coffee.

Touya entered the kitchen just as I was finishing my cup.

When I acknowledged him, I was feeling better already.

"Yes, Touya?" I inquired.

Touya brought a couple of mugs to the sink before looking at me.

"Botan's here."

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**A/N:**

**WHOO!**

**I'm sorry this took so long to start posting...**

**I'd originally had a good solid five chapters written for this by the time I finished posting The More Original Sequel, but after some time, I read what I'd written and - **

**It was terrible. Period.**

**Hiei was WAY OOC, plus, everything happened WAY too quickly. I'm even splitting the first chapter into two.**

**Yeah, it was that long.**

**SO! Enjoy the hard work I've put into rewriting everything!**

**No, really. Enjoy. Nothing would make me happier. ^-^**

**Yes, I realize that this chapter was rather depressing, but Hiei DID lose his mate. His MATE. You know, the one and only woman he bonds to for all eternity? Yeah, that's her. Kurama was close to taking her, too, so... yeah. Anyway...**

**Please send cookies! And reviews. I would like lots of those, please! XD**


	3. Chapter 2: The Guardian

**Chapter 2: The Guardian**

Once everyone had gathered in the living room, Botan called up out portal.

She turned to us, "Let's go, gentlemen. The Guardian awaits."

I tensed slightly. I hd no idea what the Guardian of th Elements was like. I'd never been lucky enough to have her appear to me.

Of course, what was a lowly theif to the Guardian?

I took a deep breath and followed the others through the portal.

As soon as we passed through, I knew something was different about Koenma's office.

The very air seemed to be _alive._

I couldn't explain the feeling, but I'd never felt anything like it before.

"You guys feel that?" Yusuke asked.

"Me heart be feelin' like a new drum, it does," said Jin.

"It's making me jittery," responded Kuwabara.

"My apologies. My aura isn't always so intense," came a woman's voice.

We turned towards the sound and saw a tall beautiful woman holding a small babe.

Her ebony hair brushed the back of her knees and her eyes were like quicksilver.

She smiled at us with small red painted lips, "I am the Guardian of Life. My sister has asked that I greet you in her stead as she is arriving a bit late."

"The Guardian of Life? Sister?" asked Yusuke.

The woman's smile grew, "Yes. I would explain, but we don't have that much time together. I will allow Suri to answer such questions if she is willing."

We didn't have time to ask who Suri was because at that moment, the baby that the woman held collapsed from her arms in a cloud of dust.

We gaped in disbelief as the woman gasped regretfully, but not sorrowfully.

She gathered what was left of the child and cupped her palms together in front of her face.

She caught out stares and smiled wistfully at us. A bright yellow light glowed as she blew air into her cupped hands.

Once the light was gone, she turned to us again, "Failing in one life, may it begin anew in another."

She opened her hands and from them flew a black and purple butterfly.

Almost instantly, her aura regressed until it was only a calm humming around them.

"What," Hiei spoke, "the hell was _that?_"

The woman blinked slowly, "The child I had created was unable to stabilize. So, I turned it into something that would.

I gasped, "I understand now. We just witnessed the creation of a new life."

She smiled softly at me, "Yes." She paused, then, "Touma, Toushi, Touru. We must be on our way. The feudal era awaits us."

Suddenly, three demon men appeared by her side. They were the same height and build and had very similar facial features.

They must have been brothers.

They each put a protective arm around her and led the way from Koenma's office.

Before they made it through the door, the Guardian of Life turned back, "My sister shall be here shortly," and they disappeared.

No sooner had they gone, the auro of life was replaced by something else entirely.

It was subdued, but I felt this aura through to my very core.

I shivered.

"Hey, you guys okay?" Kuwabara asked.

None of us replied.

"What's going on with them?" asked Yusuke.

My eyes widened. Yusuke and even Kuwabara couldn't feel this aura.

There was no other explanation than it had to be the aura of the Guardian of the Elements.

Beside me, Hiei was tense as a coiled spring. Occasionally, he would shake involuntarily. He was as nervous as I.

On my other side, Touya seemed completely at ease and Jin's ears were twitching in excitement. They seemed to be taking this much differently.

I trained my eyes on Koenma's office door, on the direction the aura was coming from.

At that moment, the door swung open and, immediately, the aura intensified.

The pressure of it was so great, I was forced to my hands and knees.

I barely managed to lift my head enough to see Koenma leading a woman towards us.

So, this was our Guardian.

_Mother_.

As she moved, her waist length silver hair swayed as though a raging wind blew through it. However, the silken tresses never tangled and always fell perfectly into place. Her short bangs remained pushed to one side, nearly obscuring her left eye.

Her eyes. Her eyes were a shifting blue that seemed to be changing shades rapidly. The emotion held in them was a biting cold that had shivering under their gaze as she let her eyes wander over us.

Her creamy skin was tanned compared and her lips were painted a darker shade of red compared to that of the porcelain white skin and ruby red of her sister, the Guardian of Life. She was also smaller in stature, her eye level would barely reach my shoulders were I standing.

Upon her petite form, she wore a tight china dress that was a plum shade of purple. Silver thread depicted a phoenix in flight on the front of the skirt while a dragon was stitched around her chest and shoulders. The skirt of the dress had slits on each side of her legs to mid-thigh. The bottom hem of the dress reached halfway down her shins and matching silken slippers graced her dainty feet.

Around her shoulders, she wore a skin-tight, black silk, sleeved wrap. The sleeves ran down her arms and ended in a loop around each middle finger. The wrap part of it hung loosely at her sides down to her knees.

I grunted as I could no longer hold my head up under the pressure of her aura.

Never before had I felt a power such as hers, yet it was also familiar. It _sang_ through the blood in my veins.

It suddenly occurred to me why it was familiar. Her power was _my_ power. Without her, I would have none.

I couldn't help but revere her as I trembled before her.

"Gentlemen," I heard Koenma's voice, "May I introduce to you, the Guardian of the Elements."

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**A/N:**

**What I was hoping to do with this was to capture Kurama's precise eye for detail. That's why there was so much to describe the Guardian.**

**Plus, I like to give my readers a clear description. ^^-**

**The next chapter is from a very disgruntled Hiei. XD**

**See you next chapter! Thanks for reading, everyone! Please give reviews and send cookies!**


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